Fruit-pitting machine



Jan. 30, 1923.

z. T. FowLER. l, FRUIT PITTING MACHINE.

FILED DEC. 5. T921.

2 SHEET SHEET yI .IIIIII IHIIIII..

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l .PIIIIIL INVENTOR BY ATTORNEY Jan. 30, 1923.

z. T. FOWLER.

FRUIT FITTING MACHINE.

FILED DEC. 5*,1921.

FIGURE i FIGURE J Freu R53. l

I FIGURE. 6

INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented dan. 3%, i923.

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i ZACK T.`FOWLER,OF SAN JGSE, CALIFORNIA.

FRUIT-PITTI'NG MACHINE.

Application filed December 5, 1921. Serial No. 520,141.

To @ZZ whom it may concer/n.'

Be it known that l, Zani; T. Fownnr, a citizen of the United States, and resident of San Jose, in the county of Santa Clara and State of California, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Fruititting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to peach pitting machines and has as its objectthe construction of an automatic device for removing the seeds from clingstone peaches after the latter have been manually positioned in holding devices.

One of the principal objects of my invention is to provide novel forms of knives by which the peach is halved and the seed cut away from the flesh with a minimum amount of waste. My improved machine aims to accomplish the above results in a simplified mechanism, one having few moving parts and. few complicating mechanisms.

`With these and other objects in view my invention consists in certain novel features, combinations and arangement of parts herein illustrated and more specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference being had to the accompanying 'drawings forming a part of this specification:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved pitting machine, parts being broken away.

Figure 2 is a crosssection on 2-2 ure 1.

Figure 3 vis a view in end elevation of the knife moving assembly.

Figure 11 is a plan view showing the spring pawl for intermittently moving the fruit carriers.

Figure 5 is a prespective view vof knives used in the machine.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of fruit holder, parts brokenA away. a Denoting corresponding parts in the several views by the same numerals of reference, the device comprises a frame 1 having the side plates 2 and 3 in which are revolubly mounted shafts 1 and 5. At-

ached to these shafts are sprocket wheels 6 over which pass the parallel strands of chain 7 and 8. The chain lbetween the sprocketl wheels rests upon ledges 9 formed cn the inside of plates 2 and 3.

of Figthe the

` On the inside of the links are provided extensions 10 to which are attached the peach holding devices denoted in general by 12. Each of these holders comprises a block 13 having a longitudinal slot 14 in which a knife 15 is mounted so as to have a slight movement in the said slot. The knife is guided by means of circular lugs 16 formed on its back and lwhich extend through corresponding openings formed in the block 13. The outer ends of these lugs are slotted for the reception of springs for holding the knife in `al raised position.

The peaches are gripped by means of jaws 1'? having somewhat concave faces `and which are pivotallymounted to the block as shown at 18. These jaws are urged toward each other by means of springs 19 'share attached to the sides of theblock u and have extensions 2O which are passed under the block and there engagedin the slots of lugs 16. Automatic devices are provided for opening thesejaws -at intervals, first to allow the insertion of the peach and then to drop it after thepit. has been removed. This opening vvof the jaws is accomplished by arms 21/formed on the back of the jaws and which are engaged by the inclined surfaces 22 arranged atl each end of frame i to rotate the jaws en their pivots.

The carrying' chains are intermittently moved so as to properly position the holding device for manually placing a peach therein and for engagement with the pitting knife.

A means for imparting the intermittent motion consists of a sliding head 22 on each side of the frame the forward ends of which are provided with pawls 23 that are adapted to engage lugs Qiwhich project from the outer surface of the clfiainlinks.4 rl`he sliding heads are bifurcatedwith the arms 29. straddling the upper edge of the side plate. rihe latter are provided with oppositely disposed grooves 9/7 which are engaged by lugs 21S formed on the inside of the arms'.

FIX- tending rearwardly from the head is a pitman 31 the other end of which is pivotally mounted on crank pin 32 of the crank arm From the forward end of the head projects the spring 4pawl 23, the outer-end of which is inclined upwardly so as toslip over the chain lugs-2li. v n

Extending upwardly yfrom the rear of the frame are brackets 34 in the'upper ends eoL of which is mounted a rock shaft 35. Crank arms 33 are attached to this rock shaft as is also a crank 36 by which the rock shaft receives its motion through the connecting rod 37. l

Extending upwardly from each side of the frame is a bracket 40 on the upper end of which is revolubly mounted a shaft Between the bearings this shaft is provided with a crank having a wide pin to which is attached one end of the connecting rod 37. @n the same crank pin is also connected a rod 42 having its lower end pivotally connected to a reciprocable member 43. This member slidably mounted in guides 44 and on its lower end is provided with a knife 45 which is bifurca-ted and provided with a slot 46 between the two parts. The width of this knife is the same as the knife l5 with which it is adapted to cooperate in cutting the flesh from the peach in half. Knife 45 on its ends is provided with. widened pads 45 with which the knife i5 contacts on its downward movement.

The knives which cut the seed from the flesh are denoted by 47 and comprise the lower curved portions 48 which have a wider cutting edge 49. From the curved portion 4Q the material of the knives is inclined outwardly and then bent parallel to the bar of knife 45 to which it is attached shown at 50. Extending laterally from the brackets 40 are arms 5l on the outer ends of which are rollers 52. These rollers are adapted to contact with the inner surfaces of knives 47 and spring them apart as the knife assembly is raised.

The operation of the pitter is as follows Power is applied to shaft 4l and the rotation of the crank thereon causes the knifeassembly 44 to move up and down. At the same time7 through the connecting rod 37 and parts 36-35--33-32-31, the sliding heads 22 are reciprocated to intermittently advance the carrying chains by sliding pins 23 backwardly in grooves 27 until dogs engage pins 24, and then sliding pins 28 forwardly in grooves 27 and simultaneously moving the two carrying chains forwardly the same distance, the forward direction being indicated by the arrow. As the upper` stretch of the carrying chains moves in the direction of the arr in Figure l? the holding devices move around the forward sprocket wheel causing the arms 2l to come in Contact with the cam tracks 22 and open the jaws. The track is extended in a straight line for some distance so as to hold the jaws wide open during a sufficient interval to permit the placing of the fruit therein.

The peach is manually placed within the jaws with the stem up and pressed against the knife l5 so that this knife will cut into the peach until it contacts with the pit. As soon as the holding device passes the end of the cam track 22 the jaws are closed on the fruit by means of springs 19. The following intermittent movement of the carrying chains then positions the holder directly under the vertical knife assembly 44.

The timing of the knife assembly is such t Aat at the time one of the holders is positioned under it. the lower edge of the knife blade 455 about to enter the peach. Furtlier movement of this knife causes its cutting edge to pass through the flesh of the peach and Contact with the pads 45 on the knife l5 and depress the latter against the tension of the. spring arms 20. At the same time the cutting edge of knife 45 is entering the peach at the sides of the pit, the cutting edges of spring knives 47 will be entering the peach at the central part. Slot 4G in knife 45 has a width sufficient to embrace the widest peach seed and the lower ends of knives 47 are as wide as this slot. The edges of these knives 47 are slightly curved as viewed in a horizontal plane in order to more closely conform to the contour of the pit and one knife edge is positioned above the other so that they can be drawn together as shown in Figure 5. and thus more closely follow the contour of the pit. .its the knife assembly descends, these curved knife edges which are normally slightly separated, will contact with the pit and be sprung further apart. The knives 47 are made of spring steel the resiliency of which causes the lower ends of the knives to be dra-wn inwardly after they pass the widest part of tne pit. This action, on smaller sized peaches. is also more positively produced by contact of the inclined portion of the knives with the upper ends of aws 17.

When the knives reach their lowermost postition and reverse their motion. the pit is held within the curved portions 4G of the knives 47 and it is thus withdrawn from the fruit. As soon as the knife assembly has moved above the top of the fruit, the pawls on the sliding heads come into action and advance the chain carrier one position. During the time of this advance the knife assembly is continuing upwardly and the inclined portion of the spring knives 47 is brought into Contact with rollers 52 thus moving the spring knives apart and releasing the pit.

lli/Then the fruit holder moves to the under side of the chain carrier the arms 2l contact with another cam rack 22 and again open the aws to release the fruit. The cutting edges of the knives 47 are normally separated as they enter the peach, the amount of this separation being regulated by the adjusting screws 53.

It is to be understood, of course, that while l have herein shown and described one particular embodiment of my invention,

that changes in form, proportion, and construction may be made within" the scope of the appended claims.

I claim 2- l. A peach holder comprising a base portion, a pair of pivotally mounted side elements thereon, a knife arranged in said base portion between said side elements, a supporting member for said knife slidably mounted in said base portion, resilient supports for said side elements and said knife supporting member, and means for forcing said side elements to swing outwardly against their resilient supports at predetermined intervals.

Q.. in a peach pitting machine, a holder, a knife blade resiliently mounted therein, a reciprocating blade having spaced cutting edges mounted in opposed relation to said first mentioned blade, means carried by one blade to engage the opposite blade when the one approaches the other to secure align ment thereof, and oppositely curved and resiliently mounted knives carried by said reciprocating blade and having their cutting edges arranged between the cutting edges of said reciprocating blade. A

3. A peach pitting device comprising a holder, a blade having spaced cutting edges mounted thereon, and a pair of oppositely curved knives mounted in opposed relation to each other in the space between said spaced cutting edges with their cutting edges arranged in different planes.

4L. A peach pitting device comprising a holder, a blade having -spaced cutting edges mounted thereon, and a pair of cppositely cnrved knives mounted in opposed relation to each other in the space between said spaced cutting edges with their cutting edges arranged in different planes, and means for separating said knives at predetermined intervals.

A peach holder comprising a base portion, a pair of pivotally mounted side elements thereon, a knife arranged in said base portion between said side elements, resilient means for urging said elements toward each other, and means for forcing said element to swing outwardly against said resilient means at predetermined intervals.

G. A. peach holder comprising a base portion, a pair of pivotally mounted side elements thereon, a knife resiliently arranged in said base portion between said side ele- 7. A supporting framework, spaced wheels thereon, an endless carrier chain arranged on said wheels each link vof said chain comprising a peach holder having a cutting blade thereon, means for imparting an intermitteilt motion to said carrier, a reciprocating blade having spaced cutting edges, oppositely curved and resiliently mounted knives carried by said reciprocating blade and having .their cutting edges arranged between the spaced cutting edges of said `reciprocating blade, and means for coordinating the movement of said holders and reciproca-ting blade whereby the blade will enter the holder and withdraw therefrom between movement thereof.

8. A peach pitting machine comprising a plurality of normally closed holders, a knife mounted in each holder, means for successively moving the several holders into a `given position, means for actuating each holder into an open position for a predetermined period of time before and after reaching said given position, and means cooperating with the above mentioned means for opening the fruit and `extracting the pit therefrom.

9. A supporting framework, spaced wheels thereon, an endless carrier chain arranged on said wheels each link of said chaincomprising a peach holder having a cuttingblade therein, means for imparting an intermittent motion to said carrier, a reciprocating blade having spaced cutting edges, oppositely curved and resiliently mounted knives carried by said reclprocatingblade and having their cutting edges arranged between the y spaced cutting edges of said reciprocating blade, and means for coordinating the movements of said holders and reciprocating blade whereby f the blade will enter the holder and withdraw therefrom between movements thereof, and means separating said oppositely curved knives after their withdrawal from the holder to permit the `dischargeof the pit therefrom.

ZACK T. FOW'LER. 

